It Happened One Day
by Lancelotlaureate
Summary: Sometimes it's just not your day.


Ian lifted and tied three bikes onto the roof rack of his car. He double-checked they were secure and then grunted with satisfaction, looking at his effort as though it were a work of art.

"You ready Barbara?" he called toward the house.

A moment later his wife stepped out of the front door holding a picnic hamper and ushering their five year old son John toward the car. "Yes, and I've packed everything and checked twice."

The family had been planning all week for their fun-filled trip to Southend-on-Sea to visit Barbara's aunt and were excited about some time away from work and everyday responsibilities. They got into the car and for the next few minutes they had their usual travel rigmarole trying to settle John down into the backseat and stop him fidgeting and asking how long it would take to get to the seaside.

"Everybody ready?" Ian asked as he looked back at the house to make sure the windows were shut.

"Yes!" Barbara and John replied together excitedly.

Ian started the car and pulled out of the driveway. "Chesterton family outing here we go."

…

A short time later, the car pulled up alongside what appeared to John like a giant greenhouse or jungle with two big doors at the front. The plants outside along the wall were almost overgrowing the building and it reminded him of the story his parents told him about the scary attacking vines on the planet with the acid seas.

"Let's just pop in and get a plant for auntie," Barbara said giving Ian no time to answer before she climbed out of the car. She motioned for the boys to join her and they went inside the garden centre together, grabbing a basket from the entrance as they did so.

When they had finished and ventured outside, Ian smiled as he could hardly see Barbara's face behind the potted plant she was holding and her tall hair was the only thing visible above the yellow and green leaves.

He reached into his pockets and took out his car keys. "I'll put John in the car and then help you with the rest of those plants or should I say the whole store you decided to buy."

"Oh Ian." She gave him her usual disapproving glance and then watched as he put John in his seatbelt and placed a bag beside him and finally put the key onto the dashboard ready for departure. He then headed back toward Barbara and their other plants collected by the shop door.

"Help me with those two there, darling," Barbara said as Ian bent down and picked up two medium sized pots with vibrant coloured flowers bursting out of them rather beautifully. Ian wondered how many plants her aunt needed, after all her flat wasn't even particularly large.

They both finally made their way to the back of the car with their items and were about to put the plants into the boot when they heard the sounds of doors slamming around them. Before they knew what was going on, the car sped away from them, covering them in exhaust smoke, leaving them bewildered and in shock.

Barbara screamed. "My boy!"

She nearly fainted as she saw the car disappear down the street and she could make out the image of her son in the back seat sitting next to a stranger. He'd be so frightened, she could hardly bear it.

"We've been carjacked! And they've taken our son!" Ian was frantic and had raced down the street after a car that was much too fast for him.

Barbara instead had dropped the plant onto the road, breaking the pot into many pieces. "Oh Ian, what do we do, what do we do?"

He ran back to her position, breathless and angry but most of all just terribly afraid. He cuddled her tightly. "We'll get him back, Barbara, don't you worry. Let's see if we can follow on foot, if not, we'll phone the police. I think I saw a phone box a couple of roads away."

They both sprinted to the next corner, looking around desperately for any sign that John may have been left outside of the car when the thieves had realised he was there. They tried not to imagine that John was the target of a kidnapping- the idea was too horrible to think about.

Not having any luck with their first theory, they ran to the red phone-box at the side of the road and Ian burst through the doors. He immediately noticed the sticky floor beneath him. "Ew, what's this?" he said, motioning to the gooey-like substance under his feet.

Barbara crouched down. "I wouldn't like to say but it doesn't matter now. Telephone the police, get our son back!"

He dialled 999 but his hands were shaking. There was no sound of connection, no one was there. It was completely dead. He slammed his hand on the glass. "It won't work, dammit."

"Oh Ian, the phone wire is damaged," Barbara said bleakly. They looked down at the cable and she ran her fingers along it. "Looks like bite marks. What on earth could have done this?"

"Never mind about that now." Ian was agitated and pacing outside the phone box. "Oh we should have stayed at the garden centre, used their phone. Why am I so stupid? If they've hurt him…I'll…"

Barbara took his hand. "We have to stay calm. Let's go back to the centre and report it. We can't always solve these things ourselves. Why do we always try to be the heroes?"

"Just call it experience."

…

They arrived minutes later to the exterior of the garden centre and were both shocked to find their car was back in the same spot it had been when it'd been taken. It wasn't damaged, there was no sign of the thieves, and it looked as though nothing was amiss. There was even the smiling face of John peering at them through the back seat window.

Barbara leapt into the car and smothered her son in kisses. "Oh John, you're alright. What happened?"

But John just laughed. "Don't worry Mummy and Daddy, they were nice kidnappers."

Ian sighed with relief. "Thank god you're alright. A Chesterton kidnapping is becoming quite a trend. What were these people playing at and why did they just bring the car back?"

"Perhaps they didn't intend for a child to be inside. Oh if I find out who they are I'll jolly well show them what for. I'm not afraid of standing up to them."

Ian cuddled John from the other side of the vehicle and then looked out at the roof rack to discover it was empty. "They've had away with our bikes!"

For the next few moments a red-faced Ian muttered a sequence of profanities as he and Barbara got back into the car and tried to calm down and think about their next move.

"We'll go to a police station and explain what happened," Barbara said. "I hope we can still get to my aunt on time. I'd hate to miss our trip because of someone else's behaviour. The main thing is John is safe and we're all together."

…

The journey to the police-station was an anxious one and the traffic built up considerably on the way. The weather also worsened and the rain had started to pour down heavily resulting in the roads becoming more treacherous with poor visibility.

The windscreen wipers moved rapidly from left to right in Ian and Barbara's car and they sighed as they waited for the cars to move.

"My heart's still in my mouth," Barbara said re-living the moment she saw her son taken away from her back at the centre. "I'm so glad those people had a conscience between them."

Ian peered back at his son who was playing with his favourite toy, and then he looked to his wife. "All Johnny would say was they were nice to him. The girl gave him one of our cakes."

Barbara felt irritable as she stared at the bad weather and heavy traffic. "We'll never get there at this rate."

Ian tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and started whistling a tune.

"Raindrops keep falling on my head?" Barbara smiled. "How appropriate."

Finally catching a break, they moved onto another lane with faster moving traffic. It was at that moment there was a flash of colour, and then a bang, and finally they saw a cat with green eyes peering at them through the front window. Ian's vision was momentarily impaired so he immediately moved the car off to the side of the road as best as he could.

"Where did that cat come from?!" he yelled as he got out of the car to shoo it away.

Barbara stayed inside the car with John. She was taking no chances. She'd already lost her son once- she wasn't going to let it happen again.

As Ian watched the tabby shoot off from the bonnet and into the bushes he was suddenly soaked with puddle water by three cyclists who were riding past as though they were in the Tour de France. Drenched from head to toe, Ian sighed helplessly. What else could possibly go wrong? Only the reassuring hug from Barbara when he entered the car stopped him from having a nervous breakdown. She placed a warm blanket around her husband and ran the top of it over his hair, drying it off but leaving it a scruffy mess.

"Daddy, why did you take a bath?" John asked, finally looking up from his toy to see his dad covered in water.

…

Barbara twisted the dials on their car radio and tuned into one of their frequent news stations. "Maybe they'll have something to say about these carjackers."

"Don't forget bike thieves," Ian added.

There was a cackle of distortion meaning they couldn't make out exactly what was going on during the news bulletin but they could hear various words such as 'teenager' 'a small unusual creature' and 'three bicycles.'

"Well they must be talking about the same people," Barbara said, 'sounds like they're on their way to being caught. I think we still better head to the station and give statements. John, you'd like to see the inside of a real police station wouldn't you?"

"Yes please!" he called, not at all traumatised by being stolen earlier that day.

Before they could get the car moving again, they watched as a police-car drove past at speed, its sirens blaring in pursuit of something nearby.

…

"Thank you for your statements Mr and Mrs Chesterton and we're very sorry for your ordeal," said Constable Ramsbottom at the nearby station.

Ian, Barbara and John were sat in the waiting room of the station ready for everything to be processed so they could try and still make their trip. John peered up at a tall muscular man with tattoos who was sat next to him. It was going to take some time and they hadn't even managed to get out of London!

"Oh it's been a very trying day," Barbara said as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder, "and all because some teenagers wanted a joy-ride about town."

Constable Ramsbottom frowned. "Not just teenagers, I'm afraid. There was also a young man and an elderly gentleman, not to mention some sort of radioactive puppy or something of that description."

Ian and Barbara didn't want to ask what he meant by the radioactive puppy.

"Harmless bunch really," Constable Ramsbottom told them, "extremely bonkers though, said they were playing some game of hunting a rare electronic toy. The sergeant didn't really know what to do with them so he's bunged them in cells for the night."

"Good," Ian said. "That ought to teach them a lesson. No one steals our son, our car and our bikes and gets away with it. I was ready to make a citizens arrest, would have locked them up in an old police-box if there'd been one."

Constable Ramsbottom smiled. "Oh those were the days. Yes, it takes you back, doesn't it?"

For the teachers, a police-box 'took them back' more than the policeman realised.

…

When Ian and Barbara left the station what felt like hours later, they held hands with their son, gripping him tightly, not wanting to let go. Maybe at last they'd get to their holiday!

Barbara's eyes surveyed the nearby field and she took two steps back, clutching Ian's hand. "Darling, do you see that?"

She pointed to the police-box that stood wonkily on the field, surrounded by curious cows and a pile of cow pats surrounding it.

Ian's eyebrow rose. "What's a police-box doing all the way out there?"

Barbara shuddered. "You don't think…"

They both laughed. It was much too unbelievable to imagine the Doctor had anything to do with their disastrous time.

"What a day!" Ian said as he scooped John up onto his shoulders to have a look. "What a day!"

…

Earlier that day.

The TARDIS landed with a bump in a field next to a herd of bemused looking cows. The door flung open and a small furry creature whizzed outside, followed by a teenage girl, a man in his twenties, and an elderly gentleman.

"Get him!" the Doctor called as he saw his young companions give chase. He closed the police-box doors and set off after them.

A moment later, his companions, Steven and Vicki, were breathless and had to stop when they noticed the creature had headed toward the main road.

"Well he's gone walkabout!" Steven moaned. "Just how are we supposed to catch the little git now?"

"Oh stop worrying," said Vicki with her usual optimism. "We just have to think as he thinks."

"Oh really and how exactly does a squeaky-voiced alien creature we know nothing about, think?" Steven sighed.

The Doctor harrumphed. "Don't get irate, dear boy, and stop arguing. The main issue here is making sure that creature is not seen by the public hmmm? This is at a guess the 1970's and I dread to think what they would do to the poor thing if they found it."

"I hate primitive societies sometimes," Vicki said. "They don't understand that there's life out there on other planets so they're all ready to dissect anyone's that different."

Steven ignored her sudden rant and told them they should make their way to the road. "We need a way to get around town quicker. They had cars in this time didn't they?"

"Yes, yes, of course they did. Good idea, we'll borrow one." The Doctor made his way to the road and looked at the vehicles parked outside what appeared to be some kind of garden centre. "That will suffice. You can drive, my boy."

"I could drive!" Vicki volunteered. "I'm sure I could get the hang of it."

"You're much too young to drive, young lady," the Doctor said, dismissing her.

Steven sighed. "I don't know how to drive one of those old things, Doctor. I learnt vintage vehicles at the academy but even they were more advanced than this."

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh it's all the same thing, I'll help you from the passenger seat. That car over there will do nicely."

"I didn't say anything about stealing it!" Steven said as he watched the Doctor approach the car and carefully climb inside, followed by Vicki. Noticing the occupants were only inches away with plants in their hands obscuring their view of him, Steven jumped inside into the driver's seat and put his foot on the accelerator pedal. He felt like a common criminal and rather guilty that he'd stolen a car right in front of its owners.

"Uh guys," Vicki said from the backseat as they sped around the corner, "we're not alone."

Steven and the Doctor looked into the rear-view mirror and spotted the little boy sitting on the backseat next to Vicki, staring at them all with wide-eyed curiosity. Steven stepped on the brakes and the car came to a screeching halt.

"We've kidnapped someone's child!" Steven shouted.

Vicki, feeling terrible for scaring the poor boy, pulled out a treat from the picnic basket in the back seat. "Here have a cake. We'll take you back soon- we're just collecting something that's all. Don't be scared."

The Doctor was distracted as his eyes scanned something at the side of the road and he yelled suddenly with glee. "There it is!"

"We can't chase that thing when we have a child with us," Steven said.

The Doctor shook him away. "No harm will come to him- we'll return him immediately after we get that blasted creature. Look he's heading into that telephone box."

Steven snorted. "What if it's just an alien ship disguised as a telephone box?"

The Doctor peered up at him incredulously. "Just go, young man."

It was with reluctance that the pilot climbed out of the car and made his way toward the red box on the corner of the road. He still thought it was odd having to go inside a box to communicate with other people but he ignored it and led Vicki to the outside of the door as the Doctor stayed with the boy in the car.

Steven peered through the glass and tried to ignore the crude graffiti scrawled on the side. He tried to cover it so that Vicki couldn't see.

"Don't the doors open automatically?" Vicki was astonished at the notion that the 1970's weren't even on automatic doors yet.

With a light pull on the handle, the young man yanked the door open and the two friends squeezed inside the tiny box where they could see the creature sitting on a small ledge, biting through a cable that attached to the telephone. Vicki scooped the being into her arms and covered it slightly with her oversized jumper, keen to avoid attention from passers-by.

Steven avoided the pile of alien goo on the floor and headed outside, barely able to manoeuvre around Vicki. "Well that certainly wasn't bigger on the inside."

Vicki laughed. "No it wasn't, come on, let's get alien pest back to where he's supposed to be before we all get arrested."

…

Arriving back at the scene of the crime, Steven parked as best he could outside the garden centre and sighed with relief.

"Next time let's not kidnap a kid, alright Doctor?"

The Doctor was offended by the statement. "I'm not in the habit of kidnapping people, young man."

Vicki laughed. "We better hurry, I can see people around. His parents must be here somewhere."

John continued to stare at his unwilling kidnappers with pure fascination. "Is this your getaway car?"

"No, you're safe now," Vicki told him. "Quiet now, if anyone asks, we were never here!"

As the time-travellers exited the car discreetly and had begun to walk away into the shadows, Vicki felt the alien kick her stomach and she dropped the creature onto the pavement in shock. It scurried away, looking like a puppy as it raced down the road, happy to be released from its woollen prison.

"Now what?" Steven said with exasperation.

"We go after it again." The Doctor's eyes narrowed, meaning he'd thought of something. Steven wasn't sure what the old man had in mind but he didn't expect him to suggest 'borrowing' the family bikes off the car's roof-rack.

"Quick!" Vicki said as she helped the Doctor pull the bikes down. "We have to hurry before they come back."

She laughed as she stared at the child's bike in front of her. "I guess this one's yours, Steven."

Steven folded his arms. "On yer bike! You're the smallest, you have it."

The Doctor stood between them and gestured that they didn't have time for petty arguments. He suggested Vicki take the small bike and they set off down the road in pursuit of the alien menace. Vicki was a little bit uncomfortable with the idea of stealing the sweet little boy's bike but it was an alien emergency!

…

The three travellers on their bikes chased the creature down several streets and they lost it momentarily in the rain that pelted them from all sides. The Doctor caught a glimpse of fur move across his vision and directed their attentions to the scene.

"It's chasing that poor cat!" Vicki said as they all came to a halt to check their bearings.

The weather was making it difficult to see and Steven's long hair was pasted to his head from the rain. "So now we're chasing a creature chasing a cat, chasing a mouse, chasing a-"

The Doctor cut Steven off mid-sentence. "Oh do be quiet my boy- we're gaining on them at least."

Vicki headed off first, followed by the Doctor and then Steven at the back, all in a line along the pathway. They picked up speed, their tired feet pedalling as fast as they could in what Steven guessed was going around in circles. Finally they spotted the cat and the creature heading toward a lane. The cat leapt onto the bonnet of a car while the creature darted off into yet another direction entirely.

"Quick, that way!" Steven shouted to his companions as they raced down-hill, gliding effortlessly through a large puddle on the edge of the road, splashing its contents on a poor passerby standing at his car.

"Sorry!" Vicki called out but she was certain he didn't hear her apology.

…

Nothing prepared the three travellers for the moment they chased the creature down a small lane and ended up in the middle of a busy main road with cars appearing from all directions. Vicki squealed as she struggled to manoeuvre the child's bicycle and escape the danger of the vehicles. "Doctor!"

Steven could hear Vicki's terrified cry but could barely see her or the Doctor's bikes as he moved to avoid a van approaching him. He spotted the creature and followed it, desperately hoping that his friends were safe.

As Vicki and the Doctor tried to avoid being hit by the oncoming traffic, Steven's legs were growing tired and he wasn't sure how much energy he had left in him. Just at that moment as he heard commotion behind him and the sound of sirens, he managed to lean forward and grab the creature before falling off his bike and landing on the pavement with a thud.

When he came to, he realised the Doctor and Vicki were in the middle of the road, the traffic around them motionless, cars splayed out in different directions. There were two police officers handcuffing them.

"Oh this is just great!" He was about to make a run for it when he saw another officer approaching him. Just how was he going to explain a furry alien with luminous eyes?

The officer tapped him on the shoulder as he tried to leave. "And where do you think you're going, sonny?"

…

One, two, three doors slammed in the local constabulary as one, two, three faces peered out of the small hatches of their single prison cells.

Steven sighed and sat down on the small bed. Prison was no new experience to him but he was still frustrated to be back there. He felt so exhausted he could sleep for days. "Oh what a day!"


End file.
